Southampton check in time

Travelling with family including two young children. We have a check in time of 13.00 hrs they have 17.45 hrs. Any suggestions? 1/4 to 6 at night is such a rediculous boarding time especially for young children, plus who in their right mind would want to drive through Southampton to get onboard for that time. Can we all board together?

You probably can board together but maybe not at 13:00. You would also have to be prepared to wait if you turn up too early. Cruise lines try and get everyone on asap but when lots of people turn up together it can be a bit manic with people sat around. Another option is to contact MSC and see if they can bring your boarding time forward. Good luck

By no means as experienced a cruiser as many on here but i have always been told to ignore any given boarding time, people arrive throughout the day anyway and we have never been told we are "too early" including Southampton last year on RC, we stayed overnight in Southampton and basically made our way to the terminal after breakfast and got straight on.